Johns Hopkins Library Resources and Services Victoria Goode, MLIS Clinical Informationist Welch Medical Library Tahirah Akbar-Williams, MLS Education Librarian Eisenhower Library

Research Guide A research guide has been created for this program. It can be found here: You can also find it from the Sheridan Libraries homepage ( by scrolling to “Education and Health Sciences” in the “Research by Subject box.” Finally, to find the link to the Sheridan Libraries homepage from the Welch Library page, go to About the Library  Other Hopkins Libraries  and click the link to the Sheridan Libraries.

Databases Have Different Purposes Why do you need to search multiple databases? – Each database has a different purpose, i.e. Pubmed indexes biomedical literature only while ERIC indexes education literature. – Databases within the same topic area will index different sets of journals. – You need to search multiple databases in order to be comprehensive.

Pubmed Pubmed is comprised of over 20 million citations from approximately 5,500 journals. Coverage is 1940’s to the present, with a small amount of older literature. The Controlled Vocabulary is called MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). Topical coverage are the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences.

Pubmed Pubmed is comprised of over 20 million citations from approximately 5,500 journals. In 2010, nearly 700,000 references were added in total. Medline and Pubmed are different. Pubmed offers additional information than Medline alone. Updates are suspended towards the end of each calendar year as the NLM makes the transition to a new year of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

Embase Comprised of over 24 millions citations from approximately 7,500 journals. Includes 2,000 titles not indexed in Medline. Includes all of the articles indexed in Medline. The controlled vocabulary is called Emtree. Emtree is larger than Mesh, which allows for finer indexing. Drug terms are far better indexed in Embase than in Pubmed. Covers roughly 800 conferences.

EMBASE cont… What should I use EMBASE for? – Drug related literature searches – Comprehensive biomedical or pharmaceutical literature searches in combination with PubMed – Systematic reviews – Drug related research, grant proposals, etc…

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) Covers education research and information. Contains over 1.3 million citations from 1966 to the present. Publication types include journal articles, books, conference papers, technical reports, and policy papers. The controlled vocabulary is called THESAURUS.

ERIC cont… What should I use ERIC for? – Any search that is dealing with education – If you want to search the education “grey literature” or “fugitive literature” – To find reports from the U.S. Department of Education and other like organizations and associations.

Education Full Text The full text of articles from over 350 journals as far back as 1996 In-depth coverage of special education, with over 50 journals dedicated to this important topic Over 100,000 controlled and cross-referenced names of educational tests

Education Full Text cont… What should I use Education Full Text for? – Find Articles that address: Literacy Standards, Continuing Education and Adult Education – The database encompasses an international array of English-language periodicals, monographs, and yearbooks. (

Academic Search Complete Academic Search™ Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,600 full-text periodical. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full-text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals. (

Academic Search Complete cont… What should I use Academic Search Complete for? – If you need information from multidisciplinary and peer- reviewed sources – For a wide array of scholarly sources from 1,400 journals

PsycINFO Includes citations and abstracts of the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines. It also provides access to books, book chapters, dissertations, and technical reports in psychology and related disciplines. Coverage is provided for 1885-present. Controlled Vocabulary = Thesaurus Indexes approx. 2,400 periodicals

PsycINFO cont… What should I use PsycINFO for? – If your search topic is psychological, psychiatric or social work related – For Systematic Reviews and Evidence Based Practice, a search in PsycINFO in addition to PubMed (MedLine) is considered standard practice

CINAHL Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature. Indexes approx. 4,175 journals plus additional materials (book chapters, dissertations). Includes nursing and allied health resources not covered in PubMed (Medline) to date. Controlled Vocabulary= CINAHL Headings which are more nurse and allied health friendly then PubMed (Medline).

CINAHL cont… What should I use CINAHL for? – Nursing and Allied Health literature searches in addition to PubMed (MedLine) – Locate dissertations and book chapters – For Systematic Reviews and Evidence Based Practice, a search in CINAHL in addition to PubMed (MedLine) is considered standard practice.

SCOPUS Covers Health Science, Social Science, Physical Science and Life Sciences. Includes resources not covered by PubMed (MedLine) including… – author homepages and university websites – historical material from various journals back to 1823 – patents and trademarks Covers >15,000 international journals, books/proceedings, patents, Web pages in the sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities. Has NO Controlled Vocabulary. Features advanced tools for – locating specific authors by name and institution – determining h-index with graphs – track from primary research to patents – track influence of research on web literature

SCOPUS cont… What should I use SCOPUS for? – Locate specific authors by name and institution – Determine h-index and present with graphs – Track from primary research to patents – Track influence of research on web literature – Look at reference lists from applicable articles – For multidisciplinary searches – For citation counts or to see who has cited a particular article

Web of Science Multidisciplinary database covering over 10,000 high-impact journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as international proceedings coverage for over 120,000 conferences. Includes Social Sciences Citation Index and Science Citation Index Expanded. Powerful tools include cited reference searching, Citation Maps, and the Analyze Tool. Has NO Controlled Vocabulary.

Web of Science cont… What should I use Web of Science for? – Locate specific authors by name and institution – Determine h-index and present with graphs – For multidisciplinary searches – For citation counts or to see who has cited a particular article – Look at reference lists from applicable articles

Searching Tips and Tricks

Effective Literature Searching: the steps 1.Identify your topic (and write it down!) 2.Identify applicable resources 3.Create a list of controlled vocabulary terms, synonyms and related terms 4.Conduct your search 5.Record you findings 6.Critically evaluate the information

Get To Know Your Databases’ Features Does a database include/allow: Automatic term mapping? A controlled vocabulary for use in searching? Vocabulary designated as major focus? Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) Adjacency or proximity searching? Required special syntax – e.g. “around keyword phrases” in PubMed to override Automatic Term Mapping; ‘around keyword phrases’ in EMBASE. Field tag searching? -- e.g. [tiab] in Pubmed

What’s the big deal with controlled vocabulary? It provides a consistent, precise way to retrieve information when different natural language words/phrases (synonyms) are used for the same concept, or when the same natural language is used for different concepts! (e.g. “cold” Which meaning?) Controlled vocabulary terms control for spelling variations (think Brit v. Am. Eng.), plurals, acronyms. Why do we say cont. vocab. searching is precise? – because only articles indexed with that vocabulary term are retrieved. Select the most specific cont. vocab. term available for your concept; that’s how indexers apply them!

Database-specific Controlled Vocabularies Some major databases:Has controlled vocabulary? – PubMed YES – MeSH – Cochrane LibraryYES – MeSH – EMBASE YES – Emtree – Web of Science No – SCOPUS No – PsycINFOYES – Thesaurus – Global HealthYES – Thesaurus – CINAHLYES – CINAHL Headings – ERICYES – Thesaurus – Academic Search CompleteYES – Thesaurus – EducationYES – Thesaurus

Controlled vocabulary in PubMed MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) – NLM’s controlled vocabulary to search Medline (PubMed) – Over 26,000 terms – Don’t guess – check the MeSH Database for what the controlled vocabulary term is for your concept. Natural language: MeSH Term: Health screening Mass Screening [MeSH] Emergency department Emergency Services, Hospital [MeSH] Computed tomography Tomography, X-Ray Computed [MeSH] SARS SARS Virus [MeSH]; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome [MeSH] Reproductive health Reproductive Medicine [MesH]; Reproductive Health Services [MeSH]

Synonyms and Related Terms There are a myriad of different ways to express the same topic or concept. Increase your chances of finding materials you want by expressing the topic or concept in many different ways.

Boolean Operators AND OR NOT Diarrheal Disease AND underfives gastroenteritis OR colitis Kid NOT Goat

Limits Type of Article or Publication Language Publication Dates Disciplines

Step #1: Write Down Your Question

Then Identify Your Main Concepts “What is in the literature on competency-based education for medical students ?” Concepts: (Concept 1) (Concept 2) Competency-based education medical students

Now we translate the main concepts from your question into a searchable query

Concepts to Query (Concept 1) (Concept 2) competency-based education medical students Becomes (for a PubMed Search): ("Competency-Based Education"[Mesh] OR "Competency based education"[All Fields] OR "competency-based education"[All Fields]) AND ("Students, Medical"[Mesh] OR "medical students"[All Fields] OR "Medical student"[All Fields])

Databases Other Than PubMed Regardless of where you are searching, the process is the same. Always write down your question, identify the main concepts, create a searchable query by combining database-specific controlled vocabulary with keyword terms and phrases, perform the search, and evaluate the results.

Questions? Contact Us Victoria Goode, MLIS Clinical Informationist Welch Medical Library Tahirah Akbar-Williams, MLS Education Librarian Eisenhower Library